eaamesnyc
05-12-12, 21:52
Hi!
First time poster and newbie to this whole SSRI thing. I was wondering if anyone might have any insights into my situation:
3 months ago, before I turned 30, I started feeling lightheaded, lethargic and developed really bad insomnia. I thought it was a cold but eventually I started getting cramps, headaches and the insomnia just got worse. Three weeks later, I started having anxiety attacks - getting jittery, sweaty. I have NEVER felt this way before nor had I ever had sleep problems.
Long story short, a month later the day symptoms got a little better but I still felt nervous all the time and the sleep didn't improve. I couldn't even sleep on Ambien - kept waking up every 2-4 hours. So I finally decided to take Citalopram, starting with 10mg my first 4 days and 20mg since then.
A week after starting citalopram, the initial side effects went away and I was feeling much better during the day. It's now been 5.5 weeks on citalopram and aside from some muscle twitches/jerks here and there, I'm doing great during the day (no nervousness, reduced but not gone libido, no weight gain.)
However, my insomnia has not improved. I can fall asleep but not stay asleep. I stopped taking Ambien two weeks ago because I want to be able to sleep on my own and not rely on medication.
My doctor and I both thought that if I treated the anxiety or depression or whatever I was going through, the sleep would come back. However 5.5 weeks later, it has not. I feel like being able to sleep normally (without meds) would help put me back on track and recovery from anxiety/depression.
So my question is: Since the citalopram has shown really good improvement in all areas except sleep, does it make sense to up my dose from 20mg to 40mg? Or switch to a whole new SSRI? Or should I wait longer since it's only been 5.5 weeks? I was deathly afraid of taking SSRIs at the beginning but citalopram did not give me a horror story like it seems to have done for others and at 20mg (the low end), it seems to be working for everything - except the sleep.
Any thoughts, stories, etc... appreciated!
First time poster and newbie to this whole SSRI thing. I was wondering if anyone might have any insights into my situation:
3 months ago, before I turned 30, I started feeling lightheaded, lethargic and developed really bad insomnia. I thought it was a cold but eventually I started getting cramps, headaches and the insomnia just got worse. Three weeks later, I started having anxiety attacks - getting jittery, sweaty. I have NEVER felt this way before nor had I ever had sleep problems.
Long story short, a month later the day symptoms got a little better but I still felt nervous all the time and the sleep didn't improve. I couldn't even sleep on Ambien - kept waking up every 2-4 hours. So I finally decided to take Citalopram, starting with 10mg my first 4 days and 20mg since then.
A week after starting citalopram, the initial side effects went away and I was feeling much better during the day. It's now been 5.5 weeks on citalopram and aside from some muscle twitches/jerks here and there, I'm doing great during the day (no nervousness, reduced but not gone libido, no weight gain.)
However, my insomnia has not improved. I can fall asleep but not stay asleep. I stopped taking Ambien two weeks ago because I want to be able to sleep on my own and not rely on medication.
My doctor and I both thought that if I treated the anxiety or depression or whatever I was going through, the sleep would come back. However 5.5 weeks later, it has not. I feel like being able to sleep normally (without meds) would help put me back on track and recovery from anxiety/depression.
So my question is: Since the citalopram has shown really good improvement in all areas except sleep, does it make sense to up my dose from 20mg to 40mg? Or switch to a whole new SSRI? Or should I wait longer since it's only been 5.5 weeks? I was deathly afraid of taking SSRIs at the beginning but citalopram did not give me a horror story like it seems to have done for others and at 20mg (the low end), it seems to be working for everything - except the sleep.
Any thoughts, stories, etc... appreciated!